friends, dato and tanseri,
it must have been 5 pm plus or there about, 4th january.
i was on a firefly, atr 72-500 twin turbo-prop aircraft flight to beautiful terengganu, despite a weather report earlier warning of cyclone pabuk hitting the state that day.
'we are landing shortly, put back up your table, and straighten your seat...'
after a long choppy 15 minutes, and this part of teganung just over kenyir is always turbulent, i could just see the runaway coming up....and my favourite nasi kerabu breakfast makan place near the end of the terengganu airport western side of the runway coming into view.
this is 2 days post umrah.
i was still in continuous zikr mode irrespective of the time.
i stopped my usual 'tasbih, tahlil and tahmid' for a while and start dreaming of having 3 days of bliss at 'the sanctuary', my pantai telaga papan beach pondok.
i need that 3 days of respite to rest my aching body , before serious work at the hospital back in KL.
the last 11 days of umrah has surely taken it's toll!
an aching back from spinal stenosis due to years of abuse from horse back riding, a bad catarrhal cough from bronchitis and a brain and muscles full of virus......
" oops, i am sorry we cannot land...we will try another one. ', came the young pilot's voice over the intercom.
i assumed there must be a strong whiff of crosswind that must have pushed the small aircraft off course at the last minute.
visibility was otherwise good .
i knew that landing standard operating procedures dictates all pilot to abort landing if at 500 feet, the runway could not be seen visibly.
it was impossible he could not see the runway.
the green roof of nasi kerabu mak cik gemok at batu rakit i could see!
'it must a strong whiff of wind ', i reassured myself.
after a long further 20 minute of circling the airport we still could not land!
the cabin was dead quiet.
malaysians, especially the malay terengganu crowd are not particularly expressive.
i had a foreboding sense of panic by now.
i was still in ' full tahlil, tahmid and tasbih' mode continuously. i dont know about the rest.
the long one with even 'lau haula wala kuwatta illa billa hilaliyyul azim' thrown in.
the pilot this time took a long route towards phillipines. i could see the outline of pulau redang on my left, being left far behind, then he turned the plane back to KT.
I felt a sense of panic.
the cabin still very quiet.
could even hear a pin drop!
" mashaalah!...do we have enough fuel? this economy air carriers usually carry just enough to land only twice!! ", played into my mind.
" do we have enough fuel!?.....do we have enough fuel?''
the light aircraft was definitely dropping in height all the time.
"full instrumental landing ", i assumed myself,but we were in the cloud for a good 5 minutes, i think perhaps longer.
nothing to be seen except the white fluffiness of the cloud and water vapour.
" omg! omg!", i changed gear.
no more the long tasbih, tahlil and tahmid but just 'astagfirullah hal azim astagfirullah hal azim
astagfirullah hal azim....'
still in the cloud , more than 5 minutes now already!
still dropping!
it is time for panic now, another gear change,''la ila haillallah, laila haillah, la ila haillallah....''..
" this is it! ", i told myself.
must be ready for a sea landing and an 'instant maggi mee' delight for the barracudas of teganung.
''omg....can death be this easy!? "
and just then i saw choppy blue water of the sea....then the beginning of the eastern side of the terengganu runway.
al hamdullillah! what a flight!
occasionally situation like this is healthy to the soul!
when life is just a collection of breaths, one always has to be in constant remembrance.
mashaaallah!
today we start on surah nuh with shaykh tawfique chowdhury.
it is certainly nice to be alive and still able to whisper things to allah!
dr nik howk
commentary by shaykh tawfique chowdhury,
[ https://namvideo.com/watch/pMRY0gpJgYU ]
recitation,
[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpJXVwAE-_Y ]
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